An Arrogant Oppressive Spirit: Anti-Zionism as Anti-Judaism in Egypt

Yadlin argues that Cairo's signing of a peace treaty with Tel Aviv prompted intellectuals to move the conflict with Israel from the political level to the cultural one. And a cultural assault on Israel willy-nilly meant recourse to the hoary myths of anti-Semitism. In a dense analysis of writings from the leading publications of both the establishment and opposition press, she points to a number of recurring themes: Judaism is a deficient religion, Jews are an evil people, and Israel is an illegitimate state. The very existence of a sovereign Jewish state jeopardizes the future of Islam; the policies of this state are irrelevant-its existence is the real problem. Jews and Muslims being engaged in an all-out war of destruction, peace is an unnatural relationship between Egypt and Israel. Her research also shows that the fascist spirit runs as deep among Egyptian anti-Semites as their European counterparts; phrases such as, "The world respects only the strong, even if his hands are soaked with blood" are common in Egypt's prestige press.

The key conclusion from these ideas is simple: Zionism is the essence of Judaism. Accordingly, anti-Zionism neatly conflates into anti-Judaism. As the author puts it, "Jews and Zionists, Judaism and Zionism are intertwined in the writing; Israelis are naturally Jews, and ancient Jewish history is, as a matter of course, Zionist." (Indeed, the "Zionist plot" is alleged to have begun in the period of Babylonian exile!) Yadlin's research confirms what wise observers of the Arab-Israeli conflict have long known; that the continuation of this problem reflects deep hostilities on the Arab side, and so cannot be solved through diplomatic acrobatics. Governments can improve relations only so much before a backlash occurs.

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